1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for driving piles, steel pipes, corrugated steel plates, etc., into the ground by exerting impacts.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Driving piles, steel piles, corrugated steel plates, etc., into the ground or pulling out these members from the ground is frequently required in construction work. Usually, the operation of driving a pile into the ground or pulling it out of the ground is carried out by using a special machine, such as a vibratory pile driver, or a press pile driver, or by suspending a pile driver, which has a chuck provided on a vibrator, from a crane or a power shovel boom end.
However, the conventional special machines such as vibratory and press pile drivers are expensive and require high maintenance and operating costs. In addition, these machines are large and are very cumbersome to transport into and out of sites of medium scale works. Further, since they are large in size, they generate extreme vibrations and noise and, in extreme cases, cause cracks in neighboring buildings.
Great vibrations and noise are also generated from a pile driver which is suspended from a crane or a power shovel, and these vibrations can also be propagated to neighboring places and may cause cracks or the like in buildings in these places.